from black to gold - The Scottish Gallery

FROM BLACK TO GOLD
From Black to Gold
From Black to Gold is a special presentation of
studio furniture and objects by Jim Partridge and
Liz Walmsley, and a retrospective exhibition of
jewellery in fine gold by Jacqueline Ryan.
www.scottish-gallery.co.uk
Front/Back cover: Jacqueline Ryan Short neckpiece 2011 18ct gold 1.2 w cm
Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley Blackened Oak Bowl 31 diameter x 13.5 h cms
Left: Jacqueline Ryan Short neckpiece 2011 18ct gold 1.2 cm w
Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley Blackened Oak Table 150 x 60 x 80 cms
JIM PARTRIDGE AND LIZ WALMSLEY
Studio furniture and vessels
Jim Partridge studied at John Makepeace’s Parnham House School for Craftsmen in Wood in the
1970s. Liz Walmsley’s first professional life in the crafts was in the world of ceramics. In 1986
she started working with Jim when he needed an assistant to work on the large outdoor projects.
Since then, the couple have worked together designing and making furniture and other functional
woodwork, from the domestic to the monumental, with the exception of the vessels which
remain solely Jim’s domain.
By the time the partnership began Jim had already established a reputation for his vessels and
small scale furniture. Initially they worked on outdoor projects, building public seats, footbridges,
and shelters. Their partnership has worked successfully on many architectural projects and
environmental commissions.
They have always said that their intention was to make “work with a strong but quiet presence in
the landscape”. This statement remains true, even though they have broadened that landscape to
include built environments.
They aim to make furniture, of whatever size or purpose, that works. Designs that work well,
furniture that is beautiful, elegant, interesting and lively, challenging more conventional attitudes
to shape, material and finish.
Right: Dovetail Benches 156 x 30 x 42 h cms
Above: Square dish (left) 23.5 x 24.5 x 15 h cms. White Beauty (right) 26.5 diameter x 23 h cms
Right: Block Seat 100 x 40 x 46 h cms
Bowl table
80 x 47.5 x 41 h cms
Rocking chair 37 front width x 47.5 max depth x 116 h cms
HIGH RES REQUIRED
Top left: Burning process
Bottom Left: Faceted bowl 38 x 38 x 28 h cms
Above: Round vessel 20 diameter x 18 h cms. Pod vessel 19 diameter x 24 h cms
Above: Craggy Faceted vessel 44 x 32 x 21 h cms
Right: Black and gold bowl 24.5 diameter x 12 h cms
Left: RHS Wisley commission
Right: Bridge Rozel Fort
commission
Their studio furniture, much of which is carved from blocks of green oak, often scorched and
polished to a lustrous black finish, is in public collections across the world. Their work has twice
been shortlisted for the Jerwood Furniture prize.
Work in public collections includes:
Boston Museum of Fine Art, USA
The British Council, London
Contemporary Arts Society, London
The Crafts Council, London
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Kyoto Museum of Modern Art, Japan
Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester
The Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, USA.
The Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Public projects include work for:
The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Common Ground
Compton Verney Arts Trust
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
Grizedale Forest
The Quay Arts Centre, Isle of Wight
“Qube” Gallery, Oswestry
RHS Wisley
Ruthin Craft Centre
Sustrans
The Welcome Trust
JACQUELINE RYAN
Fine Gold and Enamel Jewellery
“I am fascinated by nature’s “creativity”; it’s micro-details…it’s
order and it’s chaos. I love very fine details sometimes barely
visible and which will often pass unnoticed to the unfocused
eye along a trail. Qualities such as colours, textures, forms, the
compositions which nature generates as organisms grow or as
they decay are all of great inspiration to me in my work. Visual
aspects such as for example, the way a group of leaves hungrily
unfurls stretching out for the sun’s rays and in doing so smothers
another living plant or a man-made structure can make for a
good starting point for a work. Most of my pieces are preceded
by studies derived from living organisms, marine plants, flowers,
or seeds and other found objects with the occasional aid of
macro-photography that capture some of the finer-scale qualities
more difficult to perceive with the naked eye. Repetition,
naturally occuring in nature, is a recurrent theme that runs
through much of my work as well as movement in which the
composite shapes and forms from which my work is constructed
move and sway with the body and sometimes jingle and rattle
quietly giving the work a pleasant tactile dimension and
interacting with the wearer so that the piece may be animated
and alive. I feel that my work has completed it’s cycle when it
has found it’s wearer. I would like my work to be the Essence of
nature captured and translated into finished, wearable piece of
jewellery for the enjoyment of the wearer” says British-trained
goldsmith Jacqueline Ryan, who is based in Todi, Italy.
Short neckpiece 2011 18ct gold 1.2 w x 50 l cm
Jacqueline Ryan’s work is
in many public collections,
including Musée des Arts
Décoratifs, Paris; Victoria and
Albert Museum, London;
The Worshipful Company
of Goldsmith’s Collection,
Goldsmith’s Hall, London;
National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra, Australia;
Museum fuer Kunst und
Gewerbe, Hamburg and
Aberdeen Art Gallery
and Museum, Scotland,
who used the Art Fund
initiative to purchase
a major neckpiece from
COLLECT in 2009.
Above: Blooms Pendant 1996 18ct gold
and vitreous enamel 6 cm diameter
Top Left: Micro-leaf earrings 2001 2.4 x 2.4 x 0.8 cm
Bottom Left: Brooch 2002 18ct gold 4.5 x 7.2 cm
Top Right: Earrings 2002 18ct gold and vitreous enamel 2.5 x 2.5 x 1 cm
Bottom Right: Brooch 2009 18ct gold and enamel 5 cm diameter approx
Below: Collier 2006 18ct gold transparent red vitreous enamel and freshwater pearls 45 cm l
Above: Dragon Bracelet 2011 18ct gold with French Blue enamel 2.4 cm
Right: Brooch Seaflower 2010 18ct gold and vitreous enamel 6 x 4.5 x 1.5 cm
Jacqueline Ryan graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and
continued her studies in art specialising in jewellery and goldsmithing
at the Royal College of Art, London where she was a student of David
Watkins, Michael Rowe, Jacqueline Mina, Cynthia Cousens and Kevin
Coates. In1992 she moved to Padua, Italy with the goldsmith Giovanni
Corvaja where they shared a workshop together for 9 years before
moving to Todi in 2001.
“My sketches, studies and preliminary models in
paper are an essential part of the creative process
and are as important to me as the finished pieces.
I sometimes display them alongside my work.
With skteches as the starting point I later move
on to the 3rd dimension and make very small
models in paper; miniature objects that bridge
the gap between sketch in 2 dimensions and
finished piece in 3 dimensions and incorporate
the qualities of what has inspired me from the
natural world. During the drawing and subsequent
modelling processes a natural form of abstraction
occurs in several stages…..a kind of
metamorphosis…which I sometimes liken to that
of a butterfly: from egg to caterpillar through to
chrysalis later emerging and flourishing as the
adult butterfly.”
Left: Drawing, 1996
Above: Brooch 2002 18ct gold 6 cm diameter
THE SCOTTISH GALLERY
Established in 1842, The Scottish Gallery specialises
in British 20th century and contemporary Scottish
painting and international contemporary objects.
We hold significant solo and group exhibitions
throughout the year, selling work regularly to
museums and private collectors.
The Scottish Gallery is situtated in the heart
of Edinburgh’s New Town. Objects are one
of the gallery’s strongest identifying features.
We specialise in national and international
contemporary ceramics, glass, jewellery,
metalwork, sculpture and occasionally textiles.
It is unparalleled in its quality and still remains,
after more than three decades, unique in
Scotland. The focus is entirely exhibition
based and we provide a window into a much
wider world celebrating the decorative, fine
arts and design all within this one house of art.
Exhibition Highlights for 2012
7 - 30 May
Alison Kinnaird, Glass
4 - 30 June
Hans Vangsø, Danish Ceramics
4 - 28 July
Malcolm Appleby, Metalwork
3 Aug - 5 Sept
Edinburgh Festival Exhibition
Out of Abstraction
8 Sept - 3 Oct
Angie Lewin and Lizzie Farey
Paintings, prints & willow sculpture
8 Oct - 3 Nov
Walter Keeler, Ceramics
7 - 28 Nov
Sally Fawkes & Richard Jackson, Glass
1 - 24 Dec
Paul Scott, Fine Art ceramics